Shelter



W. L. CRIST July 19, 1966 SHELTER Filed April 19, 1963 FIG. 7

FIG. 5

FIG. 6

INVENTOR. WAY/YE L. (Se/J7 2 United States Patent 3,261,134 SHELTER Wayne L. Crist, 1950 Oakwood Ave., Sierra Madre, Calif. Filed Apr. 19, 1963, Ser. No. 274,198 2 Claims. (Cl. 52-66) .This invention relates to a shelter.

There is a widespread need for an overhead shelter suitable for protecting vehicles such as aircraft, trucks and automobiles, as well as other objects from sun in the daytime, dew at night, and from dust all the time. This is particularly important in connection with vehicles which carry plastic Windshields wherein sunshine and heat soon cause them to craze or cloud up.

Major structures such as hangers are frequently used for shelter, but they take up considerable space, and need to have a high wall-to-wall center span in order to have general utility. Such designs must meet general building codes, and are therefore bulky, heavy and expensive. High rents must be charged for their use. Furthermore, being attached to the land, they become real property which belongs to the land owner, and are not generally portable anyway. It is an object of this invention to provide a shelter for aircraft and other vehicles which includes only very simple, detachable basic structures, which is attractive and low-priced, and which can be only temporarily attached to the land, thereby to retain its identity as personal property and be portable.

This shelter comprises an arch member having a bight and a pair of spaced-apart legs adapted to be secured to the ground, and a shape-retaining canopy generally conforming to the shape of, and rigidly attached to, said bight.

According to a preferred but optional feature of the invention, the arch is a continuous, curved and integral member.

According to still another preferred but optional feature of the invention, a plurality of said arches is provided, the legs thereof being crossed in pairs, and joined at their intersections.

According to still another optional feature of the invention, the canopy itself forms the bight, the legs being attached thereto.

The above and other features of this invention will be fully understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are side and end views, respectively, of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of an alternate embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are side elevational views of said other alternate embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 7 shows an adaptation of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 shows a detail of a preferred means for anchoring any of the embodiments; and

FIG. 9 shows a detail of an alternate anchoring means.

The presently preferred embodiment of shelter 10 according to the invention is shown in FIG. 1. It provides substantial protection from the elements. An aircraft 11 is shown parked beneath it. It will be understood that the type of vehicle being sheltered is of no importance to the invention. It will, however, be noted that with this construction the shelter can readily be made high enough so that the aircraft can be backed under it with sutficient clearance for the tail surfaces. The wings then stand forward of part of the structure, and project laterally beyond it.

The shelter includes a pair of arch member 12, 13 which are substantially, although not necessarily, identical. Arch members 12 and 13 have bights 14 and 15 and pairs of legs 16, 17 and 18, 19, respectively. Bolts 20, 21 connect the legs together in pairs at their points of intersection, the arches being disposed at different angles to the ground so that the legs do cross each other. The legs may be made from steel tubing.

Plates 22, 23, 24, 25 are attached to the bottoms of legs 16, 17, 18, 19, respectively, preferably by welding. These plates establish the angular relationship of their respective arches relative to the ground. Each plate has a hole 26 therethrough (see FIG. 8).

These legs are adapted to be secured to the ground by a conventional anchor 27 which includes screw threads 28 adapted to be turned into the ground so as to support an anchor post 29. The anchor post has threads 30 adapted to receive a leveling nut 31, and to pass through the hole in the respective plate. A lock nut 32 is threaded onto threads 30 on the opposite side of the plate from the leveling nut so as to hold the plate in a position determined by the leveling nut.

In the preferred embodiment, an inherently rigid canopy 35 conforms to the general shape of the bights, and is attached thereto by brackets, bolts, or other conventional means. A preferred rigid material for the canopy is a sheet of corrugated steel 36, which is both decorative and inexpensive. Alternately, the canopy could be comprised of a shape-retaining frame which supports an opaque sheet such a canvas or plastic. In such an arrangement the frame would be attached to the arch members, and the sheltering material would not be inherently rigid. The canopy itself would, however, be inherently shape-retaining.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein the forward and rearward edges of the canopy are shown as right and left, respectively, and the shelter is set upon a level surface. Under these circumstances, the anchoring terminals and bight of first arch member 12 lie between vertical planes that intercept the forward and rearward edges and lie normal to the forward axis or direction (left-right in FIG. 2). The bight of the second arch member 13 lies between a vertical plane (normal to the forward direction) through the anchoring terminals of the first arch member, and one which passes through the forward edge. The rear edge of the canopy projects beyond the bight of the first arch member, and preferably terminates between that bight and a vertical plane normal to the forward direction which intersects the anchoring terminal 25 of arch member 13. The term edge is not intended to be limited to a straight edge, but to define the extreme termination of the canopy, whatever the shape.

FIG. 4 illustrates an arch member 40 which is not a continuous curve, but instead is an orthogonal structure with right angles between bight 41 and legs 42, 43. A rigid canopy 44 may be attached to the bight, forming a flat-roofed structure which, while having the same utility as that shown in FIG. 1, does not have quite the elegance of appearance.

FIG. 5 shows a device substantially the same as that in FIG. 1, common elements bearing like members in the drawings, but also illustrating the addition of a third arch 45 which may be utilized to give additional structural support should such be needed. This figure illustrates that more than two arch members may be used.

FIG. 6 illustrates that a rigid canopy 46 may be supported by a single arch 47 instead of a plurality of them, if desired. In this case, somewhat stronger material. will need to be used for both the arch member and for the canopy because of the lesser side and sway support. In all of the embodiments, steel pipe is a satisfactory material for the arch members.

FIG. 7 illustrates a plurality of curtains 48, 49, 50 sus-' pended from the canopy and held to the ground by tie lines 51-56. This enables even greater protection to be given for important portions of the aircraft or other vehicle, such as the cabin or cab.

As an alternative to the use of a separate canopy and arch member, the canopy itself can be made to form the bight of the arch. Then the legs would simply be bolted or otherwise attached to a shape-retaining canopy to form the structure. In FIG. 1, this would give the appearance derived from deletion of the dotted lines showing the bi hts.

FIG. 9 shows still another anchor embodiment. In this embodiment, an anchor post 60 has a flange 61 at its lower end embedded in a concrete block 62 in the ground. The threaded upper end 63 of the post is used the same as in FIG. 8.

FIG. 3 shows a supplemental shelter sheet 65 trackmounted to the shelter beneath the canopy by tracks 66, 67 in which rollers 68 or I beams slide. Tracks 66 and 67 may conveniently be T-slot channels. Sheet 65 may be a rigid sheet of plastic or corrugated iron attached to the rollers or I beams. It may be slid generally horizontally to project forward or backward of the main canopy to give additional shelter.

It will readily be perceived that this invention provides an inexpensive device of elegant appearance capable of withstanding high wind loads and of providing protection against the elements in open areas.

This invention is not to be limited by the embodiments shown in the drawings and described in the description which are given by way of example and not of limitation, but only in accordance with the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A shelter comprising: a first and a second rigid arch member, each of said arch members having a central bight, and a pair of legs, the legs and bight of each arch member lying in a single plane to form a U shape, the legs of the second member being longer than those of the first member, the legs of the two arch members being crossed and joined together in pairs at points spaced from the ends of all of the legs; anchoring terminals at the ends of said 3- legs; and a rigid canopy overlying said bights in conformity with the arch shape thereof and fixedly inter-connecting the two bights for defining a roof of said shelter, said canopy extending forwardly when the ends of the legs are on a horizontal surface, said canopy having a forward and a rearward terminal edge; the anchoring terminals and bight of the first arch member lying between vertical planes through the said edges and normal to the forward direction when the legs are on a horizontal surface, the bight of the second arch member lying between a vertical plane through the anchoring terminals of the first arch member and the vertical plane which pass through the forward one of said edges, the rear edge of the canopy projecting beyond the bight of the first arch member, away from both bights, all of said vertical planes being referred to a substantially horizontal surface upon which all four legs are resting, the points at which the legs are fixedly secured being substantially midway in elevation between the center of the canopy and the anchoring terminals.

2. A shelter according to claim 1 in which the anchoring means of the second arch member stand exteriorly of a vertical plane through the rear edge of the canopy.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,044,321 6/1936 Nozawa 5286 X 2,666,507 1/1954 Ruark I 52643 2,694,231 11/1954 Bermejo 526 2,801,716 8/1957 Colby 52299 2,961,802 11/1960 Mongan et a1. 5280 2,974,449 3/1961 Leeper 52--73 X 3,009,471 11/ 1961 Rossiter.

FOREIGN PATENTS 222,377 7/ 1959 Australia.

546,73 1 3/ 1932 Germany.

885,927 8/ 1953 Germany.

302,456 1/ 1955 Switzerland.

EARL I. WITMER, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SHELTER COMPRISING: A FIRST AND A SECOND RIGID ARCH MEMBER, EACH OF SAID ARCH MEMBERS HAVING A CENTRAL BIGHT, AND A PAIR OF LEGS, THE LEGS AND BIGHT OF EACH ARCH MEMBER LYING IN A SINGLE PLANE TO FORM A U SHAPE, THE LEGS OF THE SECOND MEMBER BEING LONGER THAN THOSE OF THE FIRST MEMBER, THE LEGS OF THE TWO ARCH MEMBERS BEING CROSSED AND JOINED TOGETHER IN PAIRS AT POINTS SPACED FROM THE ENDS OF ALL OF THE LEGS; ANCHORING TERMINALS AT THE ENDS OF SAID LEGS; AND A RIGID CANOPY OVERLYING SAID BIGHTS IN CONFORMITY WITH THE ARCH SHAPE THEREOF AND FIXEDLY INTER-CONNECTING THE TWO BIGHTS FOR DEFINING A ROOF OF SAID SHELTER, SAID CANOPY EXTENDING FORWARDLY WHEN THE ENDS OF THE LEGS ARE ON A HORIZONTAL SURFACE, SAID CANOPY HAVING A FORWARD AND A REARWARD TERMINAL EDGE; THE ANCHORING TERMINALS AND BIGHT OF THE FIRST ARCH MEMBER LYING BETWEEN VERTICAL PLANES THROUGH THE SIDE EDGES AND NORMAL TO THE FORWARD DIRECTION WHEN THE LEGS ARE ON A HORIZONTAL SURFACE, THE BIGHT OF THE SECOND ARCH MEMBER LYING BETWEEN A VERTICAL PLANE THROUGH THE ANCHORING TERMINALS OF THE FIRST ARCH MEMBER AND THE VERTICAL PLANE WHICH PASS THROUGH THE FORWARD ONE OF SAID EDGES, THE REAR EDGE OF THE CANOPY PROJECTING BEYOND THE BIGHT OF THE FIRST ARCH MEMBER, AWAY FROM BOTH BIGHTS, ALL OF SAID VERTICAL PLANES BEING REFERRED TO A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL SURFACE UPON WHICH ALL FOUR LEGS ARE RESTING, THE POINTS AT WHICH THE LEGS ARE FIXEDLY SECURED BEING SUBSTANTIALLY MIDWAY IN ELEVATION BETWEEN THE CENTER OF THE CANOPY AND THE ANCHORING TERMINALS. 